That Huff's post is so full of crap, every time you scroll down you hear juicy rip and smell. I wonder how it escaped their attention that Gerard Depardieu has evacuated to the cold Russia, just to be as far as f'kn possible from civilized Europe.

Rent Party:contrapunctus: Only one of two ways you're getting in to any of the decent Euro countries.

1. A job offer from a company that requires your highly specialized skill set. A skill set that couldn't be filled by someone in the country.

2. Marrying a citizen of the country.

I'm #2. As soon as the kids are grown, I'm blowing this popsicle stand.

South of France, here I come.

Same here.

As fate had it I ended up I married a swede. We're teaching our daughter both languages so she can decide what to do when she gets older, but the wife and I have no illusions about retiring in America.

Odds are we'll end up in Norway living a quiet life in 15 or so years since the language is so similar and the living standard is so incredible. We practically treat our elderly like Soylent Green here in the US.

jaerik:contrapunctus: Only one of two ways you're getting in to any of the decent Euro countries.

1. A job offer from a company that requires your highly specialized skill set. A skill set that couldn't be filled by someone in the country.

2. Marrying a citizen of the country.

It shouldn't be any surprise, but the countries with the highest standards of living also have the most restrictive immigration policies. Basically, if you think packing up and movingto sSwitzerland or Iceland is a simple matter, think again. I can tell you that neither country is thrilled at the prospect of an american immigration flood.

Which is why I always laugh every time folks in either political party threaten to move to Canada/New Zealand/wherever if the opposing party wins the Presidency. Everyone just assumes that all those other countries want Americans. Even Canada has pretty strict requirements on education, skill sets, and background. It's quite a shock to most of them.

There's a show on Nat Geo Canada called Border Security that follows CBSA agents. (border guards). It's amazing how many people either think the border is just a tollbooth type shack with no security, or that because Canada is so liberal they can openly bring pounds of grass across.

Has subby looked at the jobs and financial stats in Europe?!? Greece, Spain, Poland, Portugal and most of the eastern countries have more than double our unemployment rates. Iceland is bankrupt (good luck getting permanent citizenship there or in the Faroes), as is Greece. Italy is teetering on bankruptcy, and with Germany towing the financial line for those EU countries they won't be far behind. England? Good luck finding work that'll actually pay the sky-high cost of living and ungodly taxes there.

Plus, if you're black, sad to say, most Euro countries aren't exactly going to be friendly to ya (Scandonavia, anyone?).Fark it, move to Canada if anywhere. Or to Mexico or China, since most of the big companies will be there in the next 10 years.

It shouldn't be any surprise, but the countries with the highest standards of living also have the most restrictive immigration policies. Basically, if you think packing up and movingto sSwitzerland or Iceland is a simple matter, think again.

The residency tax in Switzerland is seven times your monthly rent, and since the cheapest apartment you are likely to find will run you $3000 a month, you are looking right into the teeth of $21,000 a year.

But on the plus side, there are no slums, I never saw a house I would not consider living in, and there were no tramps panhandling on the streets. You can look down into a river and see fish swimming, walk through a forest where men have cut timber for 50,000 years and there are still plenty of trees, and walk the streets with no fear because there is almost no crime. The people are so honest, if they see a Franc on the sidewalk they won't pick it up because it does not belong to them.

Schrodinger's Basement Cat:I would love to get a job and move to the UK. Unfortunately it's very difficult unless you are a citizen of an EU country.

Ditto. I've always dreamed of it, in fact. Not a troll statement, because some American people are truly awesome. The government on the other hand... Kinda sketchy to say the least.

You can repeat the mantra "America is #1" all you want, but you have to ask yourself: 1) Is it true? and if so, #2) Is it #1 at what? 'Cause quality of life for its citizens is not it. Our leaders are out for number one, and number one is themselves.

frestcrallen:Ricardo Klement: What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual.What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual.What do you call someone who speaks one language? American.

It's true that multilingual abilities were more of a historic necessity in Europe because of geography and demographics. But to be fair, if Americans were saturated from childhood with alternative language media to the same degree that Europeans are with English, the linguistic divide wouldn't be as pronounced. It's just inertia.

I can imagine that in about two or three generations, everyone will learn one language from interactions with their family, and probably carry some sort of computer around that's able to translate near-real time whatever people around them say, or whatever is in their field of vision.Our children will probably be the last generation of people in the developed world that has any practical reason to learn more than one language.Then again, I'm making predictions that will take 50 years or more to manifest, so It's pretty safe ground for me, personally.

Ricardo Klement:In Germany, you better speak English, German, and one other G8 language if you want a job of any consequence.

This is true. In the sense of "sad but true". I estimate that about one out of six Germans is able to speak English decently. I don't know about other foreign languages, but I optimistically guess about one out of thirty might be trilingual. Foreign language school education in Germany is just awful.I read a lot of students' papers in German and English, some of them bizarrely mixed up beyond recognition. Also, I often read magazines for customers or employees by so-called German global players. Most of the content is insufferable wannabe expert bullshiat.

Rather trolltastic headline. I personally love kicking it in Europe, and it might be great to live there, but take 16 for example---that coffee you sip in a Paris coffee shop will run you 5 euros---and keep in mind that your salary is less than what you get in America. So you might be staying home---again---in an outer arrondisement.

It shouldn't be any surprise, but the countries with the highest standards of living also have the most restrictive immigration policies. Basically, if you think packing up and movingto sSwitzerland or Iceland is a simple matter, think again.

The residency tax in Switzerland is seven times your monthly rent, and since the cheapest apartment you are likely to find will run you $3000 a month, you are looking right into the teeth of $21,000 a year.

But on the plus side, there are no slums, I never saw a house I would not consider living in, and there were no tramps panhandling on the streets. You can look down into a river and see fish swimming, walk through a forest where men have cut timber for 50,000 years and there are still plenty of trees, and walk the streets with no fear because there is almost no crime. The people are so honest, if they see a Franc on the sidewalk they won't pick it up because it does not belong to them.

Beautiful place.

What is a "residency tax?" You mean if you're a visa holder and not a citizen?

olddinosaur:The residency tax in Switzerland is seven times your monthly rent, and since the cheapest apartment you are likely to find will run you $3000 a month, you are looking right into the teeth of $21,000 a year.

But on the plus side, there are no slums, I never saw a house I would not consider living in, and there were no tramps panhandling on the streets. You can look down into a river and see fish swimming, walk through a forest where men have cut timber for 50,000 years and there are still plenty of trees, and walk the streets with no fear because there is almost no crime. The people are so honest, if they see a Franc on the sidewalk they won't pick it up because it does not belong to them.

Beautiful place.

I'm not accusing you of it, but it comes off as silly to me when Europhiles pick some small, rich, homogeneous country in Europe to compare to the U.S. as a whole. We have places like you've described in the U.S. as well, with similar populations - they just aren't independent countries. It would be like if we put a fence around the millionaires living in Montgomery County, Maryland, declared it a territory, and then compared it to the average European living situation to prove the U.S. is superior. The U.S. has slums, sure, but not every county has them. It's always struck me as an apples-to-oranges comparison.

contrapunctus:Rent Party: contrapunctus: Only one of two ways you're getting in to any of the decent Euro countries.

1. A job offer from a company that requires your highly specialized skill set. A skill set that couldn't be filled by someone in the country.

2. Marrying a citizen of the country.

I'm #2. As soon as the kids are grown, I'm blowing this popsicle stand.

South of France, here I come.

Same here.

As fate had it I ended up I married a swede. We're teaching our daughter both languages so she can decide what to do when she gets older, but the wife and I have no illusions about retiring in America.

Odds are we'll end up in Norway living a quiet life in 15 or so years since the language is so similar and the living standard is so incredible. We practically treat our elderly like Soylent Green here in the US.

I married an Irish girl. And while the language sounds like English, it ain't English.

We will probably settle in Dublin for a few years, then head to the Mediterranean. God loves that EU passport.

You kidding me? I'm so tired of Republitard derpnecks running this once-wonderful country, I'd be in the UK now if it weren't impossible to get in legally. As far as I know, if an employer will sponsor you there and prove a British citizen can't do the same job then you can get in for a little while. Otherwise, if you're a Russian gangster or middle eastern tyrant with millions of pounds to spend then they'll roll out the red carpet for you to buy a place in Knightsbridge. However, we innocent little Americans don't get any more preference for permanent entry than Libyans. :(

Jim_Callahan:what kind of moron doesn't know that "American" cheese is just processed cheddar, and that we produce basicallly "y every variety of cheese domestically?

To be fair, I've never actually managed to find "American Cheese" (full stop, no additional weasel-words attached). "American Pasteurized Process Cheese Food" seems to be the best I can find most of the time, and if I'm remembering correctly, legally that stuff can be up to 49% "not-cheese". If it's "Cheese Product" instead, I seem to recall it can be mostly "not-cheese". (I may have those two categories reversed, but the point stands).

Still, you're right. The state of "American Cheese" is a lot like the state of "American Beer". Everybody thinks of the indusrtial "product" but forgets that we have huge, awesome "artisanal" industry here and the REALLY "American" stuff tends to be found in small regional operations.

/"American Cheese" will no doubt turn out to be a slanderous French plot all along...

ZeroPly:Felgraf: 2) I am one year from finishing a Physics PhD. A Physics PhD would be highly valuable. "Being a year away from having a physics PhD" is not.

Uhh... unless you just invented an antigravity device, a physics PhD is about as useful as an A+ certification these days. Whatever you do, don't become an adjunct professor. A data entry clerk working through a temp agency gets treated better.

I graduated with a BS Physics in 1998, and being a "Physicist" meant having a graduate degree and a life of teaching and research. Which was much less exciting than my goal of back engineering UFOs.

After realizing the lack of paying jobs in ufology, I went into environmental engineering to make a paycheck, but will never regret studying physics and how it affected my worldview. But physics as a career isnt very lucrative and notable physicists are less common than the rock stars and supermodels that "make it." It's like being a teacher - you have to really love doing it and getting a crappy paycheck.

However, there are thousands of opportunities to spin that off, and Central America is full of engineering opportunities right now. And palm trees. And sun, blue water, white sand and New Age American expats.

I've been all over the world and been offered in many, many countries, and I'm pretty happy here in good old Colorado, US-F-A. I'll vacation in Norway, Italy, Spain, Czech, and Switzerland, but you can have their ridiculous prices, crime, and lazy-ass people--I couldn't LIVE with that day in and day out.

menschenfresser:You kidding me? I'm so tired of Republitard derpnecks running this once-wonderful country, I'd be in the UK now if it weren't impossible to get in legally. As far as I know, if an employer will sponsor you there and prove a British citizen can't do the same job then you can get in for a little while. Otherwise, if you're a Russian gangster or middle eastern tyrant with millions of pounds to spend then they'll roll out the red carpet for you to buy a place in Knightsbridge. However, we innocent little Americans don't get any more preference for permanent entry than Libyans. :(

Here's the problem, though.

Even if you take out the teahadist portion of our population, the fact remains that America has done goddamn near everything in its power to self destruct anyway. And hell, the Tea Party is actually right about one thing: the US is debting itself into oblivion.

We shipped our manufacturing overseas. We shiat all over our tech workers with H1B visas. We allowed corporate power to wrap its tentacles around the mouth of every news outlet so that nothing even approaching a critique of the oligarchy will air.

Now we're staring down the barrel of wealth inequality on par with pre-Depression levels. The difference between now and 80 years ago is that the working class no longer functions as a united fighting force, but instead fights amongst itself with the Roman Circus R vs D 'debate'.

George Carlin was right. We have created a pile of shiat too thick to climb out of. Those of you who want to save America have my support and I truly honor your efforts, but anyone paying attention knows that we're facing an uphill battle of epic proportions to get this country back from the brink of corporate fascism.

I have roughly 40 years on this planet and I'd like to spend it somewhere civil and quiet, thank you.

Speaking as a Brit married to an American, it seems to me that you can make arguments and counter-arguments for almost any country. Work/life balance is vastly better in most European countries, but the flip side of that is that material wealth is almost always lower. RightToWork's assertion that "Euro-rich = middle-class suburban American lifestyle" is somewhat hyperbolic, but it's not entirely inaccurate. European healthcare is better almost across the board, both in treatment outcomes and availability, but taxation is high and choices are often limited. You could continue in this vein ad infinitum.

My wife and I have debated at length where to live, ultimately it's been guided by my our urge to travel. While America is very geographically diverse, it's often expensive to traverse and relatively monocultural, conversely travel in Europe is exceedingly inexpensive and there's wildly more difference between Italy and Denmark than there is between, say, Texas and Maine. The tax arguments have proven a red herring in our case, the difference is $8k per annum in America's favour, which is trivial when healthcare costs have considered, but the immense cost of London property has been a point strongly in favour of the US (although our jobs make most sense in NYC, where this saving is almost entirely negated. Sometimes it's not smart to treat America as one place, either.)

menschenfresser:As far as I know, if an employer will sponsor you there and prove a British citizen can't do the same job then you can get in for a little while.

The need for 'proof' is a little overblown. It's not particularly hard for a company to sponsor a Tier 2 applicant, as, for example, having experience in the US market can be your defining skill. Unfortunately Tier 2 is no longer a path to residency, so you will ultimately have to go home unless you can either continue with your employer or transfer to another Tier 2 sponsor. Fairly dismal long-term situation unless you marry a local, but very feasible for a stay of a few years.

rolladuck:frestcrallen: Ricardo Klement: What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual.What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual.What do you call someone who speaks one language? American.

It's true that multilingual abilities were more of a historic necessity in Europe because of geography and demographics. But to be fair, if Americans were saturated from childhood with alternative language media to the same degree that Europeans are with English, the linguistic divide wouldn't be as pronounced. It's just inertia.

I can imagine that in about two or three generations, everyone will learn one language from interactions with their family, and probably carry some sort of computer around that's able to translate near-real time whatever people around them say, or whatever is in their field of vision.Our children will probably be the last generation of people in the developed world that has any practical reason to learn more than one language.Then again, I'm making predictions that will take 50 years or more to manifest, so It's pretty safe ground for me, personally.

The rolling 50 year mark.

/Why, just the other day, they broke even on fus [carrier_lost+++ATH0+++]